Welcome to Tangier !

Early this March, the TANGER POKER CLUB will be hosting the TANGER POKER FESTIVAL IX at the Mövenpick Hotel & Casino of Tangier.

Find out everything about the tournament in the ON THE ROAD section.

Besides fun, sometimes exotic and always loud Poker games, Tangier is a historical city that has much more to offer.

If you know nothing about Tangier, the best place to start is probably Wikipedia where you can find extensive information about the city and its history.

'Tangier (/tænˈdʒɪər/; Arabic: طنجة‎; Berber: Ṭanja) and sometimes referred as Tangiers, is a major city in northern Morocco. It is located on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. It is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region and of the Tangier-Assilah prefecture of Morocco.

The history of Tangier is very rich, due to the historical presence of many civilizations and cultures starting from before the 5th century BCE. Between the period of being a strategic Berber town and then a Phoenician trading center to the independence era around the 1950s, Tangier was a refuge for many cultures.

In 1923, Tangier was considered as having international status by foreign colonial powers, and became a destination for many European and American diplomats, spies, writers and businessmen.
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The city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernization. Projects include new tourism projects along the bay, a modern business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal and a new football stadium. Tangier's economy is also set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port.'

A very detailed tourist information portal is available HERE to find out more about Tangier and why not the rest of beautiful Morocco. There will also always be locals ready to drive and show you around. Most of them are friendly and usually don't charge too much for their guiding skills. Most of the speak French but their English is often poor. This is always a good way to get know the place from the inside but if you don't speak at least French, you might prefer to opt for the less adventurous tourist thingy.

In the Moroccan Poker community, two people come to my mind that you might want to get in touch with if you are into travelling and exploration. They always have the right advice !

The first one is Younes Mchiche who is the Tanger Poker Club art director. When he is not stuck in front of his computer, he travels around in Morocco and shoots exquisite pictures of his trips. The result on THIS BLOG.

picture from the Moroccan Backpackers blog

The second is Omar Karib who runs the independent Poker News Group 'Maroc Poker Actu'. To put it simple: he is everywhere and knows every relevant person everywhere :)

Tangier has always been of great strategic value being the gateway between Southern Europe and Africa and between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

As mentioned above, in the early 20th century, Tangier somehow drew various elitarian and alternative people and soon became a place where celebrities, international spies, artists and eccentrics would come across hippies or surfers. Hustles and corruption apparently made it quite difficult to stand your ground as a foreigner but today and since the late 90's the Moroccan Monarchy has been focusing on forward-thinking ideas about commerce and tourism. As a consequence, the real estate is exploding, a new enormous cruise boat harbour section is almost ready to go, the airport got recently revamped and foreigners are strongly encouraged by the government to set up new businesses in Morocco since then.

By now, the spies have left. Most of the celebrities too but the surfers remained and the eccentrics have been replaced by a reasonable amount of Western tourists and backpackers. The nice thing about Tangier is that you have all the commodities of a modern international city with the typical Moroccan local charm that has been preserved.

Today, Tangier is divided into two parts. An old walled city, the Medina and the fortress of the sultan on one side: it is basically a spaghetti of narrow alleyways that are very pleasant to get lost into. The newer modern city is the 'Ville Nouvelle', and tends to make you forget that you are in Morocco. It is basically only an area I go to when I have to.

The Petit Socco (also known as 'Socco Chico' or 'Souq Dakhel') is one of the numerous markets where you can buy spices, pastry, food of all sorts, clothes... The whole old city is just a succession of souqs, squares, bars and restaurants. Perfect for a lazy day !

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For those who care, I dug out some pictures I found in my archives of previous Tangier visits. Theres a bunch of Poker pictures obviously but you also get to see some pictures of the city:

May 2014

- TPF V (1)
- TPF V (2)
- TPF V (3)

September 2015
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- arrivai in Tangier (1)
- arrival in Tangier (2)
- satellite 9th September (1)
- satellite 9th September (2)
- Main Event 1A (1)
- Main Event 1A (2)
- Main Event 1A (3)
- Main Event 1A (4)
- Main Event 1B (1)
- Main Event 1B (2)
- Main Event 1B (3)
- Main Event 2 (1)
- Main Event 2 (2)
- Main Event 3 (1)
- Main Event 3 (2)
- Last days in Tangier, winter is coming :p (1)
- Last days in Tangier, winter is coming :p (2)